Part 6

The black oxide of iron, magnetite, occurs widely distributed. As its name indicates, it sometimes displays the properties of a magnet. If a fragment of unequal dimensions be suspended freely by a string, the longer dimension will gradually swing into a north and south direction. The property possessed by magnetite of attracting other bits of iron appears to have been known to the ancients, and by them the name lodestone was applied to the mineral. Since the power to attract other particles of iron is not apparent in all specimens of magnetite we must consider other more distinguishing characteristics. The ore is very heavy; particles of it are attracted by an artificial magnet, in which regard it differs from the other minerals we have mentioned; if a piece of the ore be scratched across the surface of a harder substance, _e. g._, smoky quartz, a black "streak" will be left. Pure magnetic iron ore is intensely black, with no coloring.

In a series of ore beds formerly operated by a mining company of northern New York, four distinctions of the crude ore were made, two varieties of blue, one of black, and one of gray. The blue coloring is apparently due to the presence of impurities; the black ore is evidently magnetite; and the steel-gray mineral, failing in the characteristic properties of magnetite, finds its class place under hematite. Hematite differs from magnetite in representing a higher degree of oxidation. It is often found, as indicated above, in beds distributed in close conjunction with those of magnetite. This ore is a valuable source of iron. Hematite commonly occurs in earthy materials, as red ochre. Its streak is red. All rocks of a reddish or red color owe the color to this oxide of iron.

When hematite rusts, the brownish-yellow or yellow iron oxide, limonite, results. The streak of limonite is yellow, thus distinguishing it from hematite. Disseminated through beds of clay, limonite gives them the characteristic yellow color. Such clays turn red when heated, since the water of the limonite is driven off, leaving hematite as a residue. This is the explanation of the usual coloring of bricks. Yellow ochre is impure, or earthy, limonite.

WHEN ANIMALS ARE SEASICK.

PHEBE WESTCOTT HUMPHREYS.

Anyone who has traveled extensively has had an opportunity in some of the ocean voyages to witness the seasickness of animals, and many queer stories are told from time to time of their actions at such times--how lions become un-kinglike, monkeys ape humanity, and dogs are especially woeful--and one realizes that human beings are not the only ones that suffer from seasickness, by any means.

One hears a good deal about pangs that have filled the men and women with woe, but little is said of the menageries brought to America every year, or carried hither and yon in wave-tossed boats.

Lions and tigers may be majestic when they have unwavering earth or rock against their paws, but a seasick cat of these tribes is as forlorn as any man ever was, and doesn't look a bit more kingly than a wet rabbit. Even its roars and growls have a weeping sound in them, quite in keeping with the general appearance of the beast.

A monkey is as pitiable an object when it is seasick as any other beast so stricken, and its forlorn facial expression is so humanlike and the way it clasps its paws across its stomach is so natural that the man who is not seasick necessarily sees something to laugh at in the misery of the creature. Not so with the seasick man. If he sees a seasick monkey he is sure to get very angry, thinking the poor thing is mocking him.

It takes a dog to be woeful at sea. It has a way of doubling all up, with its tail between its legs and its head hanging down that shows a deep-seated pain. To free itself the dog goes through all sorts of contortions. It will stretch out on the deck, groan and whine, sometimes rising on its haunches and lifting its head and howling long and miserably, as some dogs do at the sound of music.

Many other animals show signs of great distress when on the water in rough weather, and any animal that is thoroughly seasick will show almost human signs of distress and appeal for sympathy, yet one can scarcely help laughing at their actions, even in the face of their evident suffering.

+----------------------------------------------------------------- + | Transcriber's Note: | | | | Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. | | | | Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant | | form was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. | | | | Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. | | | | Mid-paragraph illustrations have been moved between paragraphs | | and some illustrations have been moved closer to the text that | | references them. | | | | Italicized words are surrounded by underline characters, | | _like this_. | | | | "... the shells of the eggs in class Aves."* (Page 152.) A | | footnote is indicated but missing from the text. | | | | The Contents table was added by the transcriber. | +------------------------------------------------------------------+